


His Name is Merlin

by LittensTinyMittens (Onasariel)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 15:31:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18153704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onasariel/pseuds/LittensTinyMittens
Summary: After the situation with the lamia, Merlin has received an apology from all of his friends...except Elyan. He tries to brush it off. After all, Elyan is probably spending time with Gwen, right? It still hurts though, especially since he finds his thoughts drifting to the handsome young knight.When Elyan does show up, Merlin learns he has more in store than just a simple apology.





	His Name is Merlin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sadpendragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadpendragon/gifts).



> Oh my goodness, I am so sorry this is late! The time just flew by and suddenly it's March!! This was my first time writing Elyan/Merlin, and despite some writer's block, I enjoyed it! Thank you so much sadpendragon for your patience, and I hope you enjoy!

Merlin sighed as he organized the supplies in Gaius’ chambers. It had been a very stressful few days, and it was all thanks to the lamia. 

Leon, Gwaine, and Percival had already paid him a visit so they could apologize for their cruel words and actions, and despite how much it hurt, Merlin forgave them. He couldn’t hate them because they fell victim to evil magic.

The only one who hadn’t come to him was Elyan. 

For some reason, he found that was the one that hurt the most. He couldn’t figure it out. He tried to rationalize it but to no avail. Elyan would be spending time with Gwen. Maybe he was even busy. Perhaps the Lamia had lasting effects on him that Gaius hadn’t informed Merlin about. 

In the end, all his reasons fell flat. Gwen would probably advocate for an apology, so even if Elyan was spending all his time with her he would have paid him at least one visit by now. He could be busy with training, but the other knights managed to stop by. And finally, Gaius definitely would have told him if someone was suffering from lasting effects of the Lamia’s curse.

Nothing added up, and Merlin was stumped and sad. The thought that he and Elyan didn’t have as strong of a relationship as he previously thought had crossed his mind at one point, but when John argued against his presence in Longstead, Elyan was the first to step up and defend Merlin on his behalf, putting a firm but reassuring hand on his shoulder. 

Merlin’s lips quirked into a small smile at the thought.

‘ _His name is Merlin_ ’

Yes...Elyan did care. He had to care. Merlin just needed to be more patient, and when Elyan came to see him he would have a good reason for staying away. 

Merlin returned to his work, feeling slightly more energized. 

As he worked, his thoughts continued to drift back to Elyan. There really was something special about the knight, come to think of it. Merlin found himself drawn to him. Maybe it was just the peaceful aura that surrounded him. Merlin always felt calmer when he was around. 

Elyan wasn’t afraid to speak his mind either. The young man was very headstrong, and despite his past, he had proven to be very loyal too. He was strong, brave, and ready to do what was right.

_He was rather handsome as well._

Merlin’s cheeks turned bright red as that thought crossed his mind. Where had that come from?! It wasn’t necessarily wrong though...it was just very unexpected. 

He nearly dropped the jar he was holding when there was a knock at the door. He gave himself a minute to regain his composure before turning to face it.

“Come in,” he said loudly, putting the jar on the shelf and approaching the door.

He froze when Elyan slowly came into the room. It was as if fate had intervened and brought Elyan to him.

“Elyan...hi. Gaius is doing his rounds right now, but I can help you if you need anything,” Merlin said.

Elyan closed the door and took a deep breath before answering. “I’m not here to see Gaius. I’m here to speak to you.”

Oh yes. An apology then. Merlin managed to force a small, nervous smile in response as he stepped forward. “Oh, that’s perfect then, since I’m here! What do you need?” he said, mentally smacking himself for how strained his voice was. 

“I wanted to talk to you about what happened with the lamia,” Elyan said. “I’m so sorry, Merlin. I treated you terribly and said some awful things, you didn’t deserve any of it--”

“It’s okay, Elyan. None of it was your fault,” Merlin interrupted. He gave Elyan a sad smile. “Yes, I’ll admit that it hurt, but once I knew why you were acting like that, I understood. It wasn’t you, it was the lamia.”

He had given the same speech to the others too. They were his friends and he refused to let their friendship be destroyed over an enchantment.

“Enchantment or not, I still hurt you and I needed to apologize. I also need to thank you for keeping an eye on Gwen and making sure she was safe,” Elyan insisted, taking a step closer.

“Thank you, I really do appreciate it. No harm was done. In fact, I should ask: how are you doing? I know no one else suffered lasting effects from the lamia’s enchantment, but I want to make sure that you haven’t either. As for Gwen...it was my pleasure. She was my first friend in Camelot after all,” Merlin said, rushing to Elyan’s side. His heart was racing and he knew that he probably looked silly and paranoid, but he didn’t know what else to do.

He flinched slightly when Elyan stepped back. Both men stood in silence for a moment before Elyan stepped forward again.

“I’m sorry, I’m just nervous. I’m fine, but I have a few other things that I want to talk about too,” he said. 

Merlin forced himself to smile, ignoring the dread growing the pit of his stomach. “Other things? Sure, sure! Come on, sit at the table and make yourself at home,” he said.

Elyan hesitated but did end up sitting at the table. Merlin joined him and the duo sat in another uncomfortable silence.

“So...Gwen told me that you were unaffected by the lamia,” Elyan finally said.

“That’s right. It was strange,” Merlin said.

“I have a theory. I talked to Gwen about it, and we agree that it makes sense,” Elyan was clearly getting even more nervous now. 

Merlin couldn’t blame him. He was putting up a calm front but inside he was a whirlwind of emotion. Part of him was excited at the idea that someone else might know of his magic. Another part was full of hope that he would be accepted for this. One loud part was screaming, panicking, and already making escape plans for the disaster that may happen. Finally, there was a small little voice that was trying to calm him down and scolding him for jumping to conclusions. Just because Elyan had a theory didn’t automatically mean it was magic. 

“Gwen and I have been doing a lot of thinking the past few days, and this is the only thing that makes sense. Only you and Gwen were immune to the lamia, and Gaius has said that she only goes after men, so that explains why Gwen was unaffected. Gwen said she asked you why and you didn’t give an answer. Gaius wouldn’t tell us either, but he sounded like he was trying to hide something, so we put our heads together and came up with a solution. Now, before I continue I do want to say that we have also made peace with this being a possibility…” Elyan said.

Oh no. He was rambling, and Merlin couldn’t help but be reminded of Gwen when she was younger. It was both comforting and nervewracking since he had a very strong feeling that his hopes of this talk not turning to a certain topic were shot.

“What I’m asking...Merlin...do...do you have magic?” Elyan finally finished.

Oh gods. Oh gods oh gods oh gods. Merlin swallowed the lump growing in his throat. Someone had finally figured it out and now Arthur was going to find out and he would be executed and he wouldn’t be able to complete his destiny and he was such a failure…

A gentle hand on his shoulder snapped him back to reality. Elyan was watching him intently, but his expression was one of patience, regret, and understanding, not hate and anger. Merlin took a deep breath, praying to the gods that something would go right today.

“I was born with it. I didn’t have a choice,” he managed to say. “I use it only to protect Camelot. I use it to protect Arthur.”

He braced himself for shouting and accusations, but none came. In fact, Elyan actually looked slightly amused with that small smile on his face.

“You know, it makes sense. Bandits are strangely clumsy when you’re around, and the trees are awfully weak. It was you the whole time, wasn’t it?” he asked.

“Yes,” Merlin said, his own lips twitching slightly.

“Gwen said that you once admitted to being a sorcerer in front of the whole court. You weren’t lying.”

Merlin’s smile instantly fell. He did so to save Gwen’s life, and to fix a problem he had created. Even though everything turned out fine in the end, he still felt so much guilt for the pain he had caused her.

“I’m so sorry. That wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t thinking things through. Gwen came to Gaius pleading for him to save your father’s life, and I couldn’t let him die. I should have known that Uther would blame her.”

“You saved him and gave her more time with him. Your intentions were only good ones, and we cannot blame you for what Uther did in retaliation. The only thing that matters is that she was alright. Thank you, Merlin. We swear to you that your secret is safe.”

That was not a response that he was expecting, but he was glad to have it. He absentmindedly put a hand over Elyan’s. It hadn’t left his shoulder. When he realized what he was doing he quickly pulled away, turning bright red.

“Sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” he said. 

Elyan had moved away too, his own cheeks starting to turn red. “It’s fine. I don’t know why I kept my hand there so long,” he said.

The two stood in silence for a minute before Merlin broke it. This would be a risk, but he wouldn’t know until he took that leap.

“You know, I didn’t really mind it,” he said, “I actually liked it.”

He tried to keep calm, but internally he was bracing himself for rejection. 

Elyan remained silent and stared at him, his expression giving nothing away. Merlin _really_ wished he knew what he was thinking right now. 

The silence carried on and Merlin was feeling worse and worse. He turned around and hugged his arms close to his body. “I’m sorry, ignore what I said.”

“You know...I think I liked it too,” Elyan said. “I wasn’t sure at first. I thought I was imagining it. But hearing you say it out loud feels right like this is the way it’s supposed to be.” 

Merlin turned around. Elyan was smiling now and looking at Merlin with a tender gaze. 

“You’re cute when you’re flustered, you know,” Elyan said. 

Merlin began to laugh

“That’s more like it,” Elyan said with a smirk, “I was worried that I broke you and Gaius was going to kill me.”

“I wouldn’t let him kill you,” Merlin said, shaking his head as he moved to Elyan’s side. After a short moment of hesitation, he leaned forward and gave Elyan a quick kiss on the cheek. 

The men turned red once more. Merlin thought he perhaps went too far, but Elyan grabbed him and pulled him into a proper kiss. 

Merlin melted into his arms, closing his eyes and wrapping his own arms around Elyan’s neck. This was definitely an unexpected twist to his day, but he couldn’t be happier. 

They broke the kiss and Merlin collapsed against the knight, all the shock and happiness of the moment finally setting in.

Elyan caught him and managed to hold him up. He chuckled and kissed the top of Merlin’s head before leading him to a chair.

“Sit down and rest. As much as I want to stay, I should get back to Gwen. She'll be waiting for me.”

“Right, Gwen! What are you going to tell her?” Merlin asked as he sat down. 

“I’m going to tell her that Camelot has a magic-wielding silent protector, and that I have a boyfriend. His name is Merlin,” Elyan answered. 

Boyfriend. The word was strange but perfect. He loved the sound of it.

“You should go to her then...and Elyan?” Merlin said. Elyan stopped and turned around. “I...I love you.”

“I love you too,” Elyan said with a large smile. He ran back and gave Merlin one last kiss before he ran out of the room. 

Merlin sat there for a few more minutes before getting up and returning to his previous task. This time, however, he had a large smile on his face. 

Everything was perfect.


End file.
